Echoes of 1975, but speaker stays put

The federal Parliament has narrowly averted a crisis that could have forced the resignation of the Speaker in a repeat of events that contributed to the political turmoil of 1975.

In a rare rebuff, the Parliament disputed the authority of the Speaker,
Harry Jenkins
, in a way that would usually trigger his resignation under precedents that date back decades.

But a chastened Parliament recovered from the crisis by acting within minutes to declare its confidence in Mr Jenkins and implore him to stay.

Mr Jenkins thanked the House of Representatives for its unanimous vote of confidence in him but also indicated he would consider his position after a majority of the chamber had voted against one of his rulings.

His office later issued a statement making it clear he would stay on. “The Speaker recognises the very generous vote of confidence in the chair by the house and will leave the matter at that," the statement said.

However, the turmoil in Parliament on Tuesday could undermine Mr Jenkins’s authority in future confrontations after independent MP
Rob Oakeshott
reserved his right to vote against the Speaker again.

The Whitlam government refused to support Speaker Jim Cope in February 1975 when he named a minister, Clyde Cameron, for showing disrespect. Mr Cope resigned after a majority of the House rejected his ruling.

Mr Jenkins faced a similar test on Tuesday when he named a Coalition frontbencher,
Bob Baldwin
, then had the ruling disputed by the Coalition.

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Naming an MP is one of the toughest sanctions on unruly behaviour in the Parliament because it prevents the member from representing his or her constituents, with serious implications for that individual’s career.

When Parliament voted on the issue, the Coalition won the count 72 to 71 after regional independent
Rob Oakeshott
sided with the Liberals and Nationals.

While Greens MP
Adam Bandt
and Tasmanian independent
Andrew Wilkie
voted with Labor, two other independents,
Tony Windsor
and
Bob Katter,
were out of the chamber. Mr Windsor rushed back to the chamber from the Parliament House cafe but missed the vote.

Opposition Leader
Tony Abbott
sought to avoid a humiliating outcome for Mr Jenkins by moving a motion of confidence in his speakership. Prime Minister
Julia Gillard
seconded the motion and both leaders spoke in praise of Mr Jenkins to ­discourage him from following the precedent and stepping down.

Ms Gillard also noted that supporting the Speaker should also mean supporting each individual ruling of the Speaker in order to ensure stability in the hung Parliament.

Mr Oakeshott, however, indicated that he might vote against the Speaker in future. Doing so could put Mr Jenkins in an invidious position once again because Labor could not count on a majority on the floor of the House to support the Speaker.

“The position that I just took, for example, is not without precedent. It’s the same position I’ve taken before in regards naming," Mr Oakeshott said.

“And that is, where possible, in my view, to defend a private member’s rights within this chamber.

Mr Oakeshott said he would apply the same approach “consistently" on other matters by voting against attempts to gag a member from speaking or limit the rights of individual members.

“If I don’t hear or see a particular issue that leads to a member being named, I would have difficulty doing anything else other than defending those members’ rights," he said.

But he said that approach did not mean he lacked confidence in Mr Jenkins as speaker.